The Value of Adding Your Venue to a Marketplace

May 11, 2020

Online marketplaces are the ultimate way to connect professional and social event planners to the right venues. From EventUp to VENUES by Tripleseat, these sites allow prospects to search using filters for their occasion, city, budget, guest count, amenities, and much more.

Unsure about whether or not it’s worth the money for your venue to join an online marketplace? Think your company website will suffice when it comes to bringing in leads? Below, we explore just a few of the reasons why your business should consider leveraging all that online venue marketplaces have to offer.

It gives your venue more exposure

Even the best community outreach strategies can’t compete with an established online marketplace. Adding your venue to one of these sites is a great “working smarter, not harder” method. It will allow you to reach a whole new swatch of potential customers just by having a profile. Millions of qualified leads visit these sites to identify the right venue for their event. Talk about a win-win situation!

It helps more qualified leads find you

Anyone can stumble upon your website. Maybe someone is doing preliminary event research, looking for local venues, or searching for a cuisine type in your area. These people might be curious about venues, but they’re not actively searching for an event happening in the near future. Those searching on marketplaces, however, are more likely to be trying to find an actual venue for a certain event. Some social and professional event planners primarily use search engines. Others turn to online venue marketplaces first, where they can read reviews, view photos, and learn more about the space’s offerings. Having your venue searchable on these marketplaces increases your chances of catching a qualified prospect’s attention.

It boosts your online presence

In today’s event industry, the internet is where people find venues. Thus, the more of a presence your space has online, the better. It’s crucial that your company website and social media profiles are properly maintained and regularly updated. But outside of that, having strong online marketplace profiles — ideally more than one, if feasible — only makes your event venue easier to locate and explore.

It can factor into marketing promotion efforts

You’re likely familiar with paid ads online. Whether your business buys them for social media targeting or you simply see them while clicking around on Google and other websites, paid promotions are a great way to boost your business. Many online marketplaces have options that allow you to pay for more prominent placement, depending on the keywords a user enters. Similar to search engine results tagged “ad,” this usually means your venue will rank higher in search results, thus exposing your brand to the maximum amount of planners.

It enhances your company’s credibility

These days, word-of-mouth marketing and online reviews are huge driving factors that determine whether or not a prospective event client ends up signing that contract. People want to work with a business that they deem trustworthy. That’s where online marketplaces come in. It’s wise for venues to encourage happy event customers to leave positive reviews (and even offering incentives like a discount or limited-time offer if you want to sweeten the deal) to strengthen your brand’s credibility where it matters.

Now that you know how to leverage online marketplaces, see how Tripleseat can help your private events program thrive.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published on the Gather blog written by Caroline Cox